WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Liberal Republican Senators who hope to find some sort of compromise on Democratic Party legislation to enshrine a “right” to same-sex “marriage” in federal law are just “playing games with religious liberty,” according to a civil rights official for President Donald Trump.
“Senators should stop playing games with religious liberty and marriage,” Roger Severino, the former Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights director under Trump, wrote in The Daily Signal on September 15. The bill would codify the activist Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which like Roe v. Wade “found” a “right” that did not exist. The Respect for Marriage Act could also pave the way for polygamy. It has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney has said he would be open to supporting the bill if there were religious liberty protections, but Severino, who is now a vice president at the Heritage Foundation, argued any language on religious liberty would be a farce.
“Bad lawyers draft excessively wordy amendments because they can’t help it, but cunning ones do it when they are trying to misdirect,” he wrote. “Here, the amendment sponsors recite ‘factual findings,’ ‘rules of construction,’ ‘religious liberty,’ and ‘respect’ all over the place, but in ways that are meaningless because they either aren’t given any effect or are limited to irrelevance by other provisions.”
READ: Poll: Republicans risk voter backlash if they support Democrats’ homosexual ‘marriage’ bill
We need YOU to be a voice for natural marriage and the constitutional freedom of individual states by SIGNING and SHARING this petition calling on Republican U.S. Senators to oppose the deceitfully named "Respect for Marriage Act!"
Leftist members of Congress have, once again, opted to ignore the myriad of issues facing our country — be it the border crisis, gas prices, inflation, crime, and more — to instead virtue-signal by introducing their radical new bill, the so-called "Respect for Marriage Act," which, among other things, would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
And with the radical left continuing its attempts to redefine words, people, and events to better suit their agenda and advance their political narratives, it should come as no surprise that their latest target happens to be natural marriage.
But marriage is not a political tool for the left to manipulate and destroy; it is the key building block of our society, and the primary basis for the safe, responsible upbringing of our children.
Republican members of the U.S. Senate still have a chance to defend natural marriage by stopping this bill from becoming law, but we need to let them know that the American people oppose the left's seemingly never-ending efforts to degrade the sanctity of marriage.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition to Republican members of the U.S. Senate, insisting that they vote against the "Respect for Marriage Act" when it comes before them for any form of vote.
House Freedom Caucus urges Senate to oppose the "Respect for Marriage Act": pic.twitter.com/jjARSGI94Y
— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) July 22, 2022
The legislation in question, formally filed as H.R.8404 and sponsored by liberal New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, would codify same-sex marriage into federal law, effectively forcing states to recognize any marriage performed in another state regardless of laws on their own books.
It would also fully repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was signed by President Clinton back in 1996 and formally defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman under federal law.
With the fall of Roe v. Wade back in June, the left's paranoia about losing ground when it comes to their radical social and political agenda has reached a fever pitch, resulting in the ongoing push for the "Respect for Marriage Act," which, if we don't act soon, may well become law...
TIME IS RUNNING OUT: With a 50-50 Senate, the left needs just TEN Republican members to bow to pressure: the mainstream media, Big Tech, Hollywood, and the university system are all fighting against us. With so much pressure against conservatives, we need you to send these Senators a powerful message demanding that they stand strong against the left.
That's why we need your help now.
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition to Republican U.S. Senators across the country, urging them to stand against the left's attempts to reinvent marriage by opposing the so-called "Respect for Marriage Act" when it comes before them for a vote.
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He wrote that one part of the bill would clarify “no existing protection of religious freedom would be taken away,” according to his analysis. “But that is beside the point. The argument always has been that existing religious liberty protections are not enough to shield someone or an organization from the lawsuits, threats to tax-exempt status, etc. that would be unleashed by the bill. Additional explicit protections therefore are required.”
While religious institutions would be protected from being forced to participate in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, it does nothing to protect people like baker Jack Phillips, who do not want to use their creative abilities to promote homosexuality. “This supposed protection would provide nothing that is not already guaranteed,” Severino wrote. “And it doesn’t cover areas where forced participation in same-sex celebrations still occur, such as with private bakers, florists, photographers, and other wedding vendors.”
“One hopes Congress will drop the whole thing and just get back to legislating for the public good,” Severino concluded. “But with this Congress, don’t hold your breath.”
Same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation has hit rough waters
Both Democrats and Republicans have run into problems with their same-sex “marriage” bill. Democratic leadership decided to delay a vote on the legislation until after the midterms. The Senate currently does not have 10 Republicans on board to support its legislation.
And a new poll could make it harder for Democrats to attract Republican support.
Fifty percent of Republicans do not want to see a federal law passed on same-sex “marriage,” according to a Morning Consult poll released last week. “Republican voters are more likely to oppose the move than support it, 50% to 38%,” Morning Consult wrote in its summary of the results. “The GOP electorate is also far more likely to strongly oppose such a measure than strongly support it, 38% to 19%, suggesting the energy on the right is more firmly on the ‘no’ side.”
READ: 2,000 religious leaders urge Republicans to reject Democrats’ same-sex ‘marriage’ bill
One Republican who initially signaled support has since shown hesitancy.
Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson initially said he did not see a “reason to oppose” the bill.
“I’ve never said I would support it,” he later told Axios. “I said I didn’t see a reason to oppose it.”
His spokeswoman clarified that after hearing about religious liberty concerns from constituents, Johnson would be working on the amendment offered by Romney.